14.12.2023
Ambizione: Funded researchers recognise boost for their careers
The SNSF has been monitoring the impact of Ambizione grants on researchers’ careers via yearly surveys. Grantees highly value the positive effects on their scientific profile and recognise a career boost.
Ambizione grants are aimed at mid-career researchers who wish to conduct, manage and lead an independent project at a Swiss higher education institution. Afterwards, grantees are expected to either continue on their academic path or transfer their skills outside academia, in either government or industry. The Ambizione funding scheme was launched in 2008 and has been running for 15 years, resulting in the funding of about 1100 researchers in Switzerland. In 2014, Ambizione was externally evaluated. The evaluation included a survey of grantees to determine the grant’s implications for their careers. Since then, the SNSF has continued to survey Ambizione grantees on an annual basis.
In this data story we present a detailed compilation of the results from these surveys (in relation to the years 2008-2022). Researchers report that Ambizione has given their career a strong boost. It allowed them to improve their competences, their scientific profile, their competitiveness, their research output and their national and international network. While not all Ambizione grantees were able to gain a foothold in the Swiss research community after a stay abroad, the vast majority continued to work in research positions after their grant ended. Five years after the completion of their Ambizione grants, about three quarters of the grantees hold a professorship position, some in Switzerland and some abroad.
Original datasets and cohorts
Every year, the SNSF contacts Ambizione grantees whose grants ended the previous year. Included are those who completed their grants as well as those who terminated them early because they found a new position. The grantees are asked about their Ambizione grant and its impact on their career. We refer to this group as the “1 year after the grant” cohort. The SNSF also contacts former Ambizione grantees whose grants ended five years ago. This group is the “5 years after the grant” cohort. For example, in 2020 the “1 year after the grant” cohort consisted of former Ambizione grantees whose grants ended in 2019 while the “5 years after the grant” cohort comprised former Ambizione grantees whose grants ended in 2015. The response rates are close to 50% for both cohorts.
Impact on scientific qualification
The Ambizione grant has improved my competence in my research field:
Grantees feel that the Ambizione grant strengthened their research expertise. The vast majority of them (>95%) reported that their competences have improved thanks to the Ambizione grant, regardless of whether this was shortly after the end of the grant or 4 years later.
The Ambizione grant has enhanced my scientific profile:
In terms of scientific profile, a vast majority of the Ambizione grantees (>95%) feel that their scientific profile has been enhanced with the Ambizione grant – regardless of the cohort.
The Ambizione grant has increased my scientific competitiveness:
Overall, Ambizione grantees agree that their scientific competitiveness has increased with the grant. Both cohorts show similar results, with only a minority of the grantees (<10%) doubting the effects of the Ambizione grant on their scientific competitiveness.
Impact on the track record
The Ambizione grant has increased the number of my scientific publications:
The Ambizione grant appears to have a positive effect on the grantees’ productivity, resulting in a larger number of publications. However, regardless of the cohort the data are less clearcut, with 50-60% of the grantees strongly acknowledging this observation while 30-40% of the grantees only partially approve it. Nevertheless, only a minority of the grantees (15-20%) questions the impact of the grant on their research output.
The Ambizione grant has improved the quality of my scientific publications:
Most grantees of both cohorts (75-80%) feel that the quality of their scientific publications has improved thanks to their Ambizione grant. Nevertheless, the grantees have mixed feelings about the intensity of these positive effects, with a minority of them (<20%) expressing doubts about the grant’s impact on the quality of their publications – regardless of the cohort.
Impact on the collaboration network
The Ambizione grant has improved my international networking:
Most of the grantees in both cohorts (75-80%) think that the grant positively impacted the development of their international network. However, the results are not clearcut, with 35-40% of the grantees strongly acknowledging the effects and 35-50% partially acknowledging them. Only 3% of the grantees did not feel any effect of the Ambizione grant on their international network – regardless of the cohort.
The Ambizione grant has given me easier access to leading scientists in my research field:
In both cohorts, most grantees (70-75%) feel that the Ambizione grant gave them access to leading scientists in their research field. However, only 30% strongly approve this statement, whereas 40-45% of the grantees partially agree with it. About 25% of the grantees of both cohorts feel that Ambizione did not give them easier access to leading scientists in their research field.
The Ambizione grant has enabled me to gain a foothold in the Swiss science community after a stay abroad:
Until 2012, applicants had to complete a stay abroad before applying for an Ambizione grant. From 2012 to 2020, applicants had to complete a stay at a different research institution from that of their PhD before applying.
Whether the Ambizione grant enables researchers to gain a foothold in Switzerland after a stay abroad is less clear for both cohorts. In the cohort “1 year after the grant”, about 50% of the grantees think that their grant helped them integrate into the Swiss research environment while 25% of the grantees disagree. Interestingly, 25% of the grantees cannot say if the Ambizione grant was useful in helping them to access the Swiss science community.
In the “5 years after the grant” cohort, more Ambizione grantees (approx. 55%) are positive about the impact the grant had on their entry into the Swiss science community. However, there are also more grantees (30%) who feel that the Ambizione grant did not help them much in gaining a foothold in the community. As in the “1 year after the grant” cohort, many grantees (about 20%) could not determine if the Ambizione grant helped them to achieve this goal.
Impact on the career
What is your current position?
The kind of position that grantees have after an Ambizione grant is highly diverse in both cohorts. Regardless of the cohort, a large majority of the Ambizione grantees (80-85%) remained in the academic world, either at the level of professor or researcher/scientific collaborator. Only a minority (15-20% “Other position”) took a job outside of academia, mostly in industry, government or teaching.
In the “1 year after the grant” cohort, about 55% of the Ambizione grantees held a position at the professorial level, mainly as assistant professor, SNSF professor or lecturer (about 45%). About 25% of the grantees were either postdoctoral researchers, assistants or scientific collaborators.
In the “5 years after the grant” cohort, about 70% of the Ambizione grantees had found a position at the professorial level, 40% of the grantees held a position as full or associate professor and 30% a position as assistant professor, SNSF professor or lecturer. 5% held a position such as postdoctoral researcher, assistant or scientific collaborator.
Diverse positive effects
In conclusion, Ambizione recipients highly value the positive effects of the grant on their scientific profile, particularly in terms of improving their competences, their research output, their competitiveness and their collaboration network. In general, they recognised a boost to their career – regardless of their cohort and their subsequent position.
Data, text and code of this data story are available on Github and archived on Zenodo.
DOI: 10.46446/datastory.ambizione-grantees-career-boost